Pure of Spirit, Pure of Soul
by ARTEMIS13 MAXIMUS
Summary: A story rooted in Arthurian legend in which Arthur and Merlin meet two mysterious young woman whose origins and powers are unknown. Thrown together by fate and bound by destiny, Arthur, Merlin, and these two woman share an uncertain future.
1. Chapter 1

The narrow path cutting through the tangled brambles and ancient trees of the forest trembled as the convey of soldiers trotted down it, their steeds shying away from beckoning shadows extending out from either side of the crudely formed road. It was nearing dusk, the last rays of sunlight piecing the thick canopy of leaves above, rippling over the forest floor in small golden pools and patterns of light. The soldiers moved quietly, the dying light casting a glowing sheen on their amour, and reflecting from the golden emblem of a dragon pictured on each of their chests, marking them as knights of Camelot. At the front of the columns of soldiers rode two young men, each as profoundly different from other as possible. One wore his armor and uniform with ease, the hard will in his deep blue eyes and the authority emitting from his presence marking him as Arthur, heir to the throne of Camelot, and leader of the knights that were riding behind him. The other was attired in the worn clothes of a peasant, and weaponless, yet there was a slight spark of otherworldliness that glimmered in his face, the sense that he was something quite different from the battle-fit men surrounding him. He was Merlin.

Arthur peered into the woods, searching the gathering darkness. He spoke, his voice breaking the undisturbed silence of the forest,

"There's been no sign of the creature for hours Merlin. For all we know its disappeared, back from wherever it came." Merlin gazed at Arthur, studying his face, noting that Arthur's teeth gritted in frustration as he spoke, that his eyes were crackling with displeasure. Arthur had been in this state of aggravation ever since he, his knights, and Merlin had set out in pursuit of the White Stag a day ago. Arthur thought the quest to find the Stag was purposeless journey, he believed that the White Stag was either a total myth or destined to never be found. Merlin glanced back at the knights, who rode in silence, their usual boisterous banter and conversation stilled by the frightful legends that originated in these woods, tales of vicious beasts and untamed magic that flowed to Camelot from among these time-worn trees. What the knights could only barely sense, Merlin felt coursing through him: the power of this forest, a raw energy of nature untouched by human hands. These woods held many secrets, first among them the mythical White Stag. Turning back to Arthur, Merlin murmured,

"I know you don't like it Arthur, but Uther ordered us to find the Stag. Until we have evidence that it does not existent, we can't turn back."

Arthur fixed Merlin with a withering glare, the kind only a royal could give without appearing outrageously condescending,

"The knights were created to protect Camelot, not to go chasing after mythical animals for my father!"

"Its not a myth Arthur!" Merlin insistently responded, "It was seen just two days ago on the edge of this very forest, only a few miles from Camelot."

Seeing that he would gain no ground on this line of argument, Arthur switched subjects,

"And I still can't believe _you_ were sent to accompany us. In a fight you'll only be in my and the knights, way." Merlin bit his lip to keep back an enraged reply. He had long learned it was futile attempting to argue with Arthur. Instead he said, slowly as if explaining to a child,

"The White Stag is a being of magic. To subdue it, you'll need someone who knows magic, not just how to skewer a man on a sword." Arthur growled something unintelligible, and turned his radiant blue eyes, no less displeased then they were before, back to the forest. Merlin sighed, and silently wished that something, anything would happen to make this trip a little more…. lively. Then he too cast his eyes towards the shrouded trees, their leaves waving like black phantoms in the darkness, and allowed his focus to drift towards the magic pulsating through these woods until he had lost himself in endless dreams of power that grew, and took form in the night.

As I awoke I stretched my arms out above me, hands reaching towards the layers of emerald leaves branching over my head. In the few hours I had slept bright daylight had turned to murky twilight, reducing the forest to a blur of shadows and faint outlines of trees. I was unworried about navigating in darkness though, I have always been able to summon light when needed, and in a place such as this, so connected to the endless current of energy, of raw power coursing through the kingdom of Camelot, accessing magic would be simple. This forest was rooted in the power of the ages, its origins aligned with those of Camelot itself, and thus making it among those few places where my closest friend and I ever feel that we truly belong. I glanced over at her now, still sprawled out on the forest floor in slumber.

"Juliana…." I called softly, as I slowly rose to my feet, my body sore after two weeks traveling through this forest. Her eyelids snapped open, revealing bright green eyes, and she leaned up, gathering the coarse woolen blanket she had been sleeping with. I watched jealously as she ruffled her cropped reddish brown hair, easily smoothing it back into place. My own long blond locks had to be tightly secured in two braids running down my back, else they would be helplessly tangled after a day of sleeping on the ground. Rising, she asked, surprisingly alert after having slept for several hours,

"Ready to get going again then, Alianor?" I nodded,

"We should be able to walk all night since we're rested." For some peculiar reason, but Juliana and I found it easier to travel during nighttime hours, when most forest creatures were abed, and no other humans ventured out into the forest. We had no cause to fear the magical beasts that prevented others from journeying into these woods. We both prepared to leave the clearing that had served as our resting place, swiftly packing up the few belongings we possessed in the world, just a meager supply of food and basic supplies. Our most prized items we carried constantly with us: Juliana's set of deadly sharp daggers, my sword, an ancient book of magic, and a few objects whose meaning only we knew. As we hefted our packs of belongings onto our backs Juliana turned to me and, raising one eyebrow, said patiently,

"Alianor…is there any good reason why you aren't wearing your glamour right now?" I scowled, and averted my gaze from hers,

"I shouldn't have to conceal who I am. Being a woman shouldn't put me in danger." Juliana's face became taut with slight irritation at my continued stubbornness. We had been having this argument for years; it arose whenever I had to assume a glamour that altered my appearance into that of a man's. The things Juliana and I did, the places we went… we had long since learned they weren't activities that were encouraged for women to do. In fact in most places, they were forbidden. Men's tyranny extended to all corners of this land, and even in the dark of the forest, I still couldn't travel as a woman, unescorted and unapproved by male eyes. Juliana replied,

"It _shouldn't_ put you in danger, but the fact is it does. And while I know we can defend ourselves perfectly well, I don't particularly want to be running into trouble wherever we go. Just put the glamour Alianor, for my sake if for nothing else."

Still fuming, I quickly muttered an incantation and waved a hand over my face. As soon as I finished the enchantment I could feel the glamour settle on my body, overlaying me with an image of my male self: contorting my skin into male features, sweeping the hair back from my shoulders, creating a picture to the outside world of a well-built young man who still carried my pair of glowing blue eyes. I detested having the glamour of a man, the slight consciousness of flesh where it was not naturally, the phantom feelings of a body that was not my own. Underneath the glamour I was still my true self, was still in my body, but in all other eyes, except for Juliana's, who could always see me as I naturally am, I was someone else entirely. I shook out my limbs and muttered angrily,

"You and your bloody short hair Juliana." Juliana struggled to conceal a smirk at this remark. Her cropped hair was not only low maintenance and complimented her rounded feature it also served to make a glamour mostly unneeded. She still appeared like a woman, but was greatly less obvious then my long hair and more pronounced chest. And we had discovered that most men wouldn't question if Juliana wasn't a man for fear of insulting her and incurring the wrath of her daggers.

"If you weren't so vain Alianor, you would cut that hair of yours, wear loose clothing, and then neither of us would need a glamour." Juliana commented. I glared at her for a moment, irritated at her habit of pointing to the truth of my more absurd convictions, and then both of us set off into the forest. The only guide we needed was the raw magic radiating out from the object of our search, the reason we had delved so deeply into these woods and disturbed its secrets: the White Stag.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the darkest part of night, those few hours before daylight breaks when all is silent and veiled in blackness, when I first sighted the Stag. Juliana and I had been tracking the being for days, following the traces of its magical essence as it passed through the forest. Its power had been undetectable up until it had been spotted by a village near Camelot a few days ago. As with most magical creatures that have been captured, the White Stag had ventured too near a human settlement, thus making its presence known to those rare humans who are attuned to the life-force of the earth: magic. Juliana and I are two of those rare humans.

I saw the Stag just as Juliana and I had reached the summit of a large hill rising out of the forest. I was gazing up at the stars, transfixed by the droplets of light burning in the heavens, when a larger glow of light in the darkness caught my eyes. Turning I saw a beast paused on the peak of the next hill, his body half concealed by dense trees standing between us. It was a deer, a stag completely swathed in white light as if thousands of blazing flames of pure light danced over him. A beacon in the darkness, shining in sharp relief against the shadows of the forest and the wide abyss of the night sky, casting rays of light like an artificial sun over the hill he stood on. I've seen many fantastical creatures, but nothing stole my breath so utterly as the sight of the White Stag in the night, his head tilting upwards as if he too had been gazing at the stars. Swiftly glancing sideways I realized that Juliana, kneeling on the ground and peering into her pack, had yet to see the creature. Not wanting to risk a noise and startle the Stag I extended a tendril of thought from my mind into hers, reaching into her consciousness and placing a clear message amidst her chaotic thought stream. _Get up slowly and look across to the next hill. The Stag is here. _My particular gift of magic: telepathy, allows me not only to read minds, but also to supplement them with my own thoughts, to communicate through minds. I use this ability sparingly, not everyone is as accustomed to hearing voices as Juliana and I. I spoke to Juliana so often through her mind that I no longer had to exert myself to probe into her pool of thoughts and subtly speak to her, to spiritually wander along the corridors of a mind I knew almost as well as my own. She could even speak back to me, on a limited level. In my mind's eye I watched as the thought I had planted in her head sparked, and took form, a clear bond blossoming to life along the path I had tread between our minds where once was only mist. She rose from the ground and turned, utterly silent. But she couldn't contain the gasp that escaped her lips as she saw the Stag.

_Isn't it beautiful?_ The thought sang along the connection between her and I. She nodded, green eyes glistening with joy at the magical glory of the Stag, a creature forged by the fires of magic that had blessed Juliana and I with our powers. For a moment we stood in silent reverie with the Stag, receiving the presence of the night, and the power coursing in all our veins, blooming with life and the energy that twines between us all. We should have felt what was coming, took note of the stirring of the forest behind us. But the Stag had engrossed us, so it came as a complete surprise when the sound of hooves stomping against the ground, the slithering noise of steel sliding against steel, and the muffled tones of multiple male voices broke through forest behind us.

In an instant, our moment of magical communion with the Stag was torn asunder. The Stag turned its head, noticing the noise, and bolted from the top of the hill as it glimpsed us, a flash of light disappearing into the night. I barely had breath to curse as Juliana and I whirled around to see nine men emerge onto the summit of the hill. Nine armored men, carrying swords. I glanced at Juliana, mind racing. If we ran these men would certainly pursue. Could we lose them in the woods? But my mind was already rebelling against that idea. These men had possibly cost us the White Stag; I wasn't able to let them chase us away as well. I try, mostly unsuccessfully, not to seek out fights, but I'll never shy away from one if I think the cause is just. I met Juliana's eyes with mine, and saw in these emerald irises an echo of my own will. _Stay and fight_. A wild grin played on my lips as I drew my sword from underneath my cloak, the symbols etched into its gleaming steel flashing with an inward glow, sparking as if lit with a golden fire. Within a moment Juliana's daggers were in her hands, sliding into her palms as if she had conjured them out of the air. Her weapons shone from within as well, but their light was a shimmering deep blue rather than the bright flames of my sword. She raised her daggers and slid her feet into a fighting stance. I hefted my sword and reached up to tie the hair back from my face before realizing that my hair was cropped due to my glamour of a man. The men opposite us drew their swords, sweeping out into a unified line with the discipline of soldiers. I peered closer and saw that there was an emblem of a rearing golden dragon emblazoned on each of their chests. Soldiers of Camelot. I loved Camelot, and believed in its ideals and principles, but it was not a welcome place for Juliana and I since magic was punishable by death and intolerance ruled the heart of its king.

A man moved forward from the line of soldiers, lowering his sword as he stepped closer to examine us. A shaft of moonlight suddenly parted the trees and illuminated the man, silver light sliding like beads of water over his blond hair, catching the hard angles of his face, and piecing deep into his fathomless blue eyes, nearly the same hue as my own. I focused my internal energy on him, reaching out to embrace his mind, sinking into his stream of thoughts and memories as a pebble falls deep into a river, barely shaking the surface with a ripple. I probed through the images, emotions, thoughts, most of which were centered on battles, knights, Camelot…and faces of those this man was sworn to protect, images of common folk, of courtiers and his father the king. All of Camelot was resting on this man's shoulders. I looked deeper and his identity was revealed. Trying to conceal my shock I retreated back into my own mind and sent Juliana a message, _That man is Prince Arthur, heir to the throne of Camelot_. Her eyes widened slightly at the words, if a prince was wandering through a remote forest in the middle of the night, it didn't bode well. Arthur spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the both of us, his gaze emotionless and revealing nothing,

"Who are you, and why do you draw weapons on knights of Camelot?"


	3. Chapter 3

I glanced sideways at Juliana, wondering for a moment how to respond. In the pause after he spoke I reached deeper into his mind, delving into his recent memories. In his mind's eye I watched as a man attired in the robes of a king, that must be Uther, Arthur's father, ordered his son to go forth into the forest and capture the White Stag. _They're after the Stag as well_, I silently spoke to Juliana. Mentally I raged at the princeling before me, if he expected to catch that majestic creature of magic with brute force he was deeply delusional. It was an insult to the spirit to the forest that nine soldiers were attempting to capture the White Stag as a hunter might trap wild boar. These men didn't understand the spirit of magic as a current of life that must be embraced in the soul and mind, didn't respect the forces of old as Juliana and I did. They were ignorant of the ancient ways and therefore could have no hope of finding the Stag. These woods could conceal all that outsiders did not comprehend, use its powers to protect what human hands would taint and distort till its magic would be poison to all those who feel magic coursing as their lifeblood. Juliana stepped forward to respond to Arthur, lowering her daggers so they were not pointed threateningly at the prince, who appeared bewildered at our appearance,

"You have no reason to question us. Or threaten us. We are here freely, and if you attempt to harm us we will strike back."

Arthur's gaze sharpened at Juliana's statement, his lip curling in irritation at what he considered our insubordination. He clearly was unaccustomed to men refusing to answer to him, or to arguing against him. Arthur hefted his sword; it's polished steel gleaming in the fading moonlight, shadows playing over his tightly wound face and clinging to the curved links of his chain mail. He spoke, measuring his words carefully to halfway conceal his annoyance,

"That isn't an answer boy. We have identified ourselves as soldiers of Camelot, with the authority invested in us from Camelot. You have yet to inform me why we should or shouldn't view you as a danger." I stepped forward now to meet Arthur's challenge with words of my own,

"You can hardly except us to concern ourselves with your state of mind. You will believe of us what you will. And we are beyond the boundaries of Camelot therefore your _authority_ is irrelevant. In these woods you have no ability to dictate our actions." Arthur stiffened in fury, and his gaze burrowed into my skin, his blue eyes seeking to scorch me. In his mind I could read that he saw his authority as the ultimate definition of his character, as justifying all his actions, causing my barb to pierce deeper than Juliana's. As I delved deeper into his consciousness I happened upon strength of will, a desire to battle, and deep-set intensity that matched my own ferocity of mind and spirit well. In response to my use of power the flames glowing within my soul grew in potency, blazing with light that traveled from within to make my blade glow brighter. I scowled at this, if I expended much more power my eyes would transform to bright silver flecked with crimson, the silver a symbol of my ability in the mind, the crimson indicating my affinity for the element of fire.

My thought pattern was broken in an instant. Arthur's hand had contracted on the hilt of his sword and then in a single motion he leapt forward, lunging towards us as he swept his sword out until it hovered over my throat. There he paused, holding the blade upon my neck, poised to cut my throat. Anger rose swiftly within me, at myself for not reacting before the prince held my life in his hands, and at Arthur for believing he could force me into submission. Over the sword Arthur's eyes found mine, those wells of blinding blue searing me with their determination, a determination to not allow a pair of boys to undermine Camelot's authority. I glared back, my eyes just as brilliantly blue and enraged as his. For a moment, two pairs of sapphire eyes sought to blaze against each other, and then Juliana spoke, her voice layered with fury,

"You have sought a battle, and we will give it to you." Arthur scoffed dismissively, his eyes never leaving my face,

"We have nine men, you have two. Don't be foolish." As the words passed his lips I used his distraction, a distraction I knew Juliana had intended to provide, to twist my sword in my hand till the hilt was facing outward, and then drive the hilt deep into Arthur's stomach. Arthur had forgotten to disarm me, and now he dropped the sword from my throat and bent over his stomach, face contorted in surprise and pain. Yet again, I took advantage of his diverted attention to bring my knee up in a powerful stroke till I heard the crunch of cartilage and knew my kneecap had collided with Arthur's lowered face. Arthur collapsed, a slight moan escaping his lips. I glanced up to see the knights had rushed forward when I had attacked Arthur, three of them had engaged Juliana, attempting to pry her daggers from her hands. She whirled, her blades flashing like sunlight glancing off water, parrying the blows from the knights' swords as she twisted, careful not to keep her back to one knight for too long. I darted forward, a knight turned to meet me and our blades crashed together, the tendons in my arm straining as he placed his weight upon the sword. The knight's eyes widened in shock, as I held firm then twisted my blade under his sword in a swift motion he was too slow to counter, wrenching it out of his grip. I struck him on the head with the hilt of my sword and he fell to the ground. I stepped over his inert body and dashed to Juliana's side. She had managed to disarm two of the knights and also render them unconscious. Juliana and I always strived not to take life unless deeply necessary. The remaining four knights surrounded us, wary now that they had seen our skills. I paused for a moment, weren't there nine men? Where was the ninth? I dismissed this thought for after the battle.

One knight hurled himself at me, however before he could reach me I seized upon his lack of balance to knock aside his sword with a flick of my blade, then slapping his forehead with the blunt side of my sword. As he fell I saw out of the corner of my eye Juliana catching a man's sword between her daggers and then wrenching it out of his grasp. The two final knights engaged us. I traded blows with the one, the sound of iron colliding with iron ringing out as he attempted time and time again to reach past my defenses and wound me. I searched for an opening, my feet gracefully moving over the fallen leaves as we parried back and forth. His blade twitched to the side, I lunged to strike it when he suddenly hit in the other direction sending my sword jarring against my hands and my balance lost. I was forced to slide to my knees to prevent myself from tumbling into the ground. A grin spread across his features as the knight brought his sword down hard, I raised mine to counter the blow but his higher position gave him leverage. Our blades collided and mine barely held as he thrust downward, my strength flagging, death flashing before my eyes for a moment. Then I gritted my teeth, my spirit flared, and I pushed back with the force remaining in my body, struggling to my feet, a crazed smile on my lips at the astonishment in the knight's eyes. I struck his blade with all my might; it flew free from his hand, spinning through the air with the force of my blow. Before the knight could recover I curled my hand into a fist and heaved it into his face. He dropped, and stayed on the ground.

Exhilaration singing in my veins, the night air cooling the flush of my cheeks, I turned to watch as Juliana sent the last man falling to the ground. For a moment we surveyed what we had done. Eight men of Camelot lay sprawled over the moss and rotten leaves that coated the forest floor, the last rays of moonlight dancing over their comatose faces.


	4. Chapter 4

I picked my way through the unconscious soldiers; glancing over each to make sure none had fatal injuries. Juliana and I had learned long ago that every time you take a life, its thread of life ties around your own, a constant phantom presence on your psyche that can cripple your magic, or make you pay an even greater cost. Juliana circled the clearing as well, until we had both stood on either side of Arthur, who lay slumped against a tree, his head resting upon the worn bark. Blood ran down his face, stemming from the bruised bridge of his nose that I had cracked with my knee. A dark slash of bleeding also ran down the center of his forehead. Juliana crouched beside him and remarked,

"He looks terrible. How hard did you hit him?" I shrugged and answered,

"Perhaps my knee is made of iron. That or he has particularly weak facial bones." Juliana offered a small smile at my response, her eyes remaining on Arthur. I watched him as well, silently acknowledging that what was a simple task in conception: discovering the White Stag, was becoming infinitely more complicated. As my peering into his mind had confirmed, Arthur and his knights were after the Stag, for reasons undoubtedly less pure than Juliana and mine were. Uther Pendragon wanted the Stag, and while he had very little knowledge of the complexities surrounding magic and the Stag, he did have the resources of a prosperous, secure nation that was also endowed with an unnatural prejudice against magic. Juliana and I knew that the majority of the people of Camelot still believed in the goodness of the old ways, despite their king's hatred. But he commanded their loyalty, and only a few would dare protest the capture of the Stag.

Compounded with the threat of Uther to the Stag, was his threat towards us. We had just rendered eight knights, including Uther's son, unconscious. I was not intimately familiar with Camelot's laws, but I was fairly certain this violated them. Very few knew Juliana and I possessed magic, and while there had been many rumors of a pair of powerful warlocks wandering the territories in and around Camelot, these men had no way of knowing that we were them. However, if we were captured by Uther's forces and brought to Camelot, there was a chance our magic could be found out. Then, certain death.

"Perhaps attacking them was an ill-advised decision." I said quietly, "We have just gained Uther Pendragon and his son as enemies. Any danger we would have encountered in pursuing the Stag has just been multiplied."

"Your logic has an odd way of working only after we've fought." Juliana replied. She considered it for a moment, and then shrugged. "We were their enemies before. This just means Arthur will be looking for us. And the Stag?" I stared out at the tangle of brambles and trees laden with canopies of wide-brimmed emerald leaves for a moment and then answered,

"We will go on in our search. If they hunt us, we will evade them, and we _will _find the Stag first." My voice was resolute, a determination that had been hardened from years of finding my way and accepting my gift in societies that, while respected the powers of those blessed with magic, treated those persons with the same suspicion and alienated reserved for those diseased or struck with lunacy. Juliana and I did not fear Arthur or Uther, because experience had taught us that those in positions of authority are often misguided brutes that maintain their power through force and fear. Authority is a fickle mistress, and we had our reasons not to trust it. The only powers we bowed to where the ancient forces whose energy coursed through us, our bodies becoming channels for untold power and unique abilities. In Juliana that was manifested in a strong enchantment power, and a deep affinity for the basic elements of water, wind, and earth. In me, my power took form in the ability to look into the minds of others, and control over the element fire.

"We best be going then, before they wake. Should I lay another tracking spell?" As Juliana said this she lifted both her daggers where she had laid them on the ground and moved towards Arthur, daggers extended out. For a moment I faltered, confused as to whether she was going to stab him, then realized that she was reaching for his cloak, to clean the dirt and grime off her blades. As she brought the daggers close to his chest there was a sound of shattering wood and from the corners of my vision a tree branch hurled itself down from the sky, seeming to move almost horizontally in our direction. Not bothering to speak, I launched myself at Juliana, gripping the back of her tunic and pulling with all my strength, ignoring her gasp, using my momentum to propel the both of us forward, each of us airborne for a breathless moment before we struck the ground, my head ricocheting back as my body sprawled into wet moss and plastered leaves. Juliana leapt to her feet before me and vigorously slid her hands over her tunic, now stained with clods of dirt and sprigs of moss, almost spitting with annoyance,

"Hellfires! Why did you do that?" I stood and scanned the clearing, urgency almost choking my throat as my instincts trembled and my mind swiftly calculated.

"Alianor!" She exclaimed, her usual temperate, mild personality strained with frustration. Her relaxed, calm nature disguised the fact she had very little patience, a trait we shared, although my lack of patience was undisguised. Many aspects of my mind and nature were apparent, the rest veiled in mystery. Juliana's placidness meant that until you knew her, almost all of her personality traits were veiled.

"There was a branch flying through the air at us," I finally replied.

"Oh," she said, calming instantly now she understood there was a good cause for my actions, I could feel her tranquility snag suddenly as she said, "Did you say…flying?" I gestured to the space around Arthur's body where the branch now lay and whispered,

"As it was moving towards us and I saw it, it was falling almost…horizontal, flying toward the air directly at us. And look, it was heading towards us, yet somehow managed not to hit Arthur. And it only fell when it looked like you could have been going to stab Arthur with your daggers. It was moved unnaturally."

"You know that means there's someone with powers here?" She spoke quietly, her mouth barely moving. I nodded and peered outside the clearing again, seeing not even a shadow that could be human.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin Story, Chapter 5

My eyelids fluttered closed and I extended the boundaries of my mind, methodically sweeping the clearing for any trace of human thought. And then I felt him. At the far edge of the clearing, his mind nearly imploding as thoughts ricocheted through it. An unguarded mind, yet pulsating with a type of raw power that made me physically recoil as I entered it, the same magnitude of power that I had not witnessed since, well….when I first meant Juliana and when I first measured the amount of my own power. Juliana and I had encountered many who were slightly gifted with magic, but never anyone who could equal our own power. But this boy…his power was perhaps as extensive as mine, or Juliana's. This could pose even greater complications. His power was untrained, but there was a great risk that for once, in a fight, Juliana and I might actually be equally matched with our opponent. And that was something that hadn't occurred for many, many years.

_There's a boy on the left far side of the clearing.__Behind the log.__You go to the right; I'll go to the left. He possesses a great power, be careful._She looked at me sharply as I relayed the message, surprise written on her face. She was as taken aback as me to encounter someone in this land with substantial magical ability. Since the time of Uther, many of those gifted had fled. All but us. And this boy, apparently. Juliana wiped the surprise clear from her face and refocused a mask of calm passing over her features. I felt an eagerness ringing through my veins and I gripped and re-gripped the hilt of my sword, my fingers grasping the aged wood tightly, my entire body trembling beneath my skin with anticipation. Casually, as if strolling back into the woods, Juliana headed towards the right side of the log, her daggers in her hands. She pretended to examine them, flicking off specks of dirt as her eyes peered at the fallen log, half-buried beneath molding leaves. I moved to the left, hand resting on my belt, just near my sword which swung against my hip in its leather sheath. We moved beyond the first line of trees, shadows darkening our view, leaves crackling loudly beneath our boots. I paused, leaning against a tree and directed my mind towards the log. He was still there, and I could feel his heart beating frantically as his eyes danced back and forth between Juliana and me. His thoughts were fragmented, ruptured and torn by panic and fear. The forest rang with silence as both Juliana and I remained still, waiting patiently, knowing that he was on our terms, he was playing our game, and we were the hunters, not the prey. And the prey could either fight or flee. And if I had judged this boy correctly, then I knew which one he would choose. With a movement that seemed so slow although it passed in a matter of seconds he sprang to his feet, emerging from beneath the log, and ran. Turning his back to us, he began to clumsily sprint into the forest, nearly tripping on a root as he ran. Juliana and I sprang forward, darting after him, weaving in and out of the trees. It felt as if I was flying over the ground, exhalation sang within me as I chased, keeping him in my sights. I felt an explosion of speed as my legs propelled me forward, my feet barely brushing the ground. He was close, so close. I wasn't aware of Juliana anymore, wasn't aware of the forest. Only the boy running before me. I waited, straining, just another moment, just another moment until I could reach him. Then, in a breathless moment, I bent my legs slightly and leapt. My body flew, my arms reached forward and any breath was knocked from my chest as the boy and I collided. I latched my hands onto his shoulders and pushed down with all my weight, he crumpled beneath me and I fell, his body falling and mine landing directly on top of it, our limbs tangling together, my chin slamming into his back, jolting my jaw painfully. Then everything came to a sudden halt as the ground stopped our forward movement and all was still. Then my breath came in huge gasps, and for a moment my mind was blazing fire from being throw to the floor, and my mouth ached from hitting the boy. My arms and legs were somehow wrapped in his, and even as dizziness from the fall came over me, joy overrode all pain as adrenaline erupted into bursts of inexplicable happiness. It was the unexplainable happiness of having flow for a moment, and having brought someone to the ground with the force of my own body. And beneath me, the boy released something that sounded like a moan.

Behind me I could the sound of Juliana approaching the both of us, her quiet inhalation and exhalation of breath mixed with a sigh of exasperation.

"You probably killed him Alianor. Was it truly necessary to jump on him?" I grunted in response, trying to remove my arm, which was pinned under the boy's body. He lay completely still; face down into the dirt and moss of the forest floor. I got the impression that he was silently hoping I was going to think he was actually dead and leave him. He would have no such luck. After several moments of trying to detangle myself and ignoring Juliana's quiet muffling of her laughter at my current predicament, I finally prodded the boy with my fingers and said,

"Could you move? Otherwise we two are going to be tangled together from here to eternity."

He lifted his head from the forest floor and turned to glare at me, his dark brown eyes flashing darkly, his face streaked with filth, his hair, a shade browner than his eyes, flopping over onto his forehead. I did not have to look into his mind to feel his palpable fury, but in my head I could still hear his thoughts raging at the edge of my consciousness. Once I have reached into someone's mind part of their thoughts consistently remains with me, hovering at the edge of my own mind. When that boundary slips it is as if a thousand voices, the voices of everyone whose minds I have read, are speaking to me, driving me mad. Because of that I have disciplined myself so that I am centered in my own mind, but at its fringes I can vaguely feel the minds of all the others. At that moment I could also sense that Arthur was not awake yet, but his thoughts were beginning to stir and awaken. Turning my attention back to the boy, I could see he was not moving, instead stubbornly staring at me, his gaze defiant and surprisingly challenging given he had just fled. I raised my eyebrows slightly, questioning how he was suddenly trying to appear so brave now that he had been captured. When I spoke again my voice had dropped a few octaves and now it carried an underlying threat,

"Move boy. There is no point in showing defiance by staying where you are."

"My name isn't boy!" He said petulantly, "It's…" He stopped short.

"Merlin," I finished for him without thinking. I had read the information in his mind earlier. Merlin cringed away from me, eyes widening in shock. He sprang away from me, only to yelp in pain as our entanglement wrenched his limbs from the movement. Gingerly, we moved apart, and I slowly got to my feet. Juliana stood before us, a look of slight amusement on her face. _What do you want to do_? I mentally questioned her, _Interrogate him or knock him out and leave him with the others_?

In response Juliana extended a hand and there was a cracking sound as a branch tore forth from a nearby tree and hurtled down toward my head. I shrieked and threw myself, yet again, to the ground. The branch changed course at the last moment and whirled through the air to squarely strike Merlin on the head. He collapsed, eyes snapping shut and body going limp. From my position on the floor I glared up at Juliana, not needing to speak to let her know why I was angry. Something like a smirk appeared on her lips, and then her face was a mask of calm once more. Placidly she said,

"Should we leave him with the others?" Without replying I stood and latching my fingers to the edge of his cloak, began to drag Merlin back to the clearing.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Blotches of crimson and gold swarmed across Arthur's vision, like thunderclouds roiling over a horizon. The bright imprints of sunlight on his vision seared his eyelids and transformed the world into winking fragments of colors and clusters of leaves over which dripped and erupted the sunshine. Arthur pressed his fingertips into the aching flesh of his eyes and blinked till the world sharpened and its forms became clarified. Arthur gazed up at the sky of overlapping leaves, each wrinkled and drenched in vibrant colors. The leaves draped and fell from the aged trees, their branches reaching up to the morning sky. Craning his head upwards, Arthur realized that he lay on his back, amidst a pile of fallen leaves. After the realization came the pain. What felt like hundreds of scorching sunbursts exploded inside his skill, forming individual packets of fresh pain. Wincing, Arthur staggered to his feet and surveying the clearing saw each of his carefully trained knights unconscious on the forest floor. Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan, his chosen men, and the other knights dispatched for this mission, all seemingly sleeping underneath the sunlight. Arthur's physical pain was overridden by a tumult of disbelief, outrage, and fury. A flash of sunlight on metal drew Arthur's gaze to where his sword lay, discarded; its shining blade concealed by the crumbled forms of dead leaves. Arthur lifted it, curled his fingers around its hilt, wiping the dirt from its blade. Holding the sword in his hand, Arthur strode over to Lancelot's side. He lay on his back, a large welt surrounded by a purple bruise on his forehead, partially covered by Lancelot's dark curls. Lancelot's tawny colored hair, nearly black, brought to Arthur's mind an image of the two boys, one dark haired like Lancelot, the other with locks as golden as Arthur's own. The two boys, standing in defiance, their weapons glinting, the two boys moving with skill beyond their years, fighting, striking his men down, but not killing them. Not taking their lives when Arthur had held his sword to the fair-haired one's throat. When Arthur would have been willing to take his life, the fair-haired spared him. These realizations were like barbs in Arthur's mind, the more he considered the deeper they burrowed and the more they bled, leaking ugly clotted thoughts into his mind that could not be erased or extracted. He had thought the boys a rose, just petals to be bent or crushed. But he had discovered thorns. Arthur replaced his uncomfortable ruminations with anger, reaching down he gripped Lancelot's breastplate and bellowed,

"Wake up!" Lancelot's eyes snapped open; one hand went to his sword belt, the other rose to defend himself. Seeing Arthur, his arm dropped, his brows knitted in confusion, then glancing about him shock appeared in his dark eyes, the color of a passing shadow. His lips moved but no sound emerged. Arthur didn't want for Lancelot to speak, instead shouting,

"Now awaken the rest of the men, I want them on their feet, now!" The reality was coming back to strike Arthur again and again. A pair of woodland boys had bested him, the thought was inconceivable, and again he considered the battle in his mind, identifying his fatal mistake. Arrogance and assumption. He had assumed the boys too awestruck and frightened to strike a knight in armor, and too cowardly to carry through on their defiance. And Arthur had been arrogant enough to believe that assumption correct. Lancelot had awakened the remainder of the men by now, some expressing shock, others furry. The sunlight swarmed over the sharpened angles of their faces, marked in shadows of dirt and weariness. They stood, Arthur's chosen men and the other knights of this mission, watching Arthur, unsure what to anticipate. Arthur raked them with his eyes and realized they were missing a man. Turning, at the far edge of the clearing he sighted a figure clad in a peasant's brown clock laying face down in the grass. Having discovered a second outlet for his anger Arthur strode to Merlin and gripping his tunic, slung Merlin to his feet. Merlin's eyes snapped open and he wavered for a moment on his feet before claiming his balance. By then, Arthur was already shouting,

"My men were being beaten by a pair of scrawny boys last night and you choose to hide like a coward in side of stand and fight like a man! What are the use of those godforsaken special abilities of yours when we meet a fight and your hiding in the bushes!" Merlin's face collapsed, as if was attempting to cave in on itself, his voice was panicked but firm as he answered,

"I was following your orders! You told me I am not a soldier, I don't belong on a battlefield, and I would get in your way. I was following orders. And I kept the dark-haired one with the daggers from killing you as well. And that's not even the extent of what I did." Arthur sighed in exasperation, tapping his fingers on the hilt of his sword. Merlin continued, a note of pride in his voice,

"I discovered that those two boys are in possession of a great deal of magic between them." Arthur froze, and then recoiled, those boys were magically gifted, unnatural creatures? If they had such power why didn't they use it? It was inconceivable, why would they battle hand to hand when they could manipulate the world with their minds?

"How did you come by this knowledge?"

"Both of them had strong mental barriers up to prevent their magic from being detected, but when I fled after the battle," seeing Arthur's face Merlin quickly added, "so that I could return at a later time and ensure all of you were alright, the fair-haired one knocked me to the ground. And when we collided her mental barriers dropped briefly as her focus was jarred and I could read her power. Also, the dark-haired one I think tore a branch from a tree with her mind and used it to strike my head, knocking me out. They must have dragged my body back to the clearing." Arthur's voice lowered,

"Is their magic as strong as yours?" Merlin considered the question, and then nodded slowly.

From behind Arthur he heard Gawain's voice, deep and echoing in the clearing,

"What do we do from here, my Prince?"

Arthur turned and measured each of them with his eyes, his men standing to attention, daring him to challenge them with weakness or lack of courage. Arthur declared,

"The boys are of no consequence to us. We pursue the stag. If we encounter the lads again however, we will fight." Arthur paused and his voice hardened, sharpened on those thorns clutching his mind, "And unlike them, we can draw blood."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

"I have an idea!" Juliana exclaimed suddenly, emerging from the rows of the trees to where I stood atop a hilltop, gazing down at the forest shrouded in night. I lurched forward, shocked out of my internal thoughts by her voice, the shouting multitudes of consciousnesses all contained in my head dropping to a humming background melody as I turned and focused on her.

"What idea?" I asked, moving down the side of the hill to where she was at its base. For a moment her face was only a blurring of shifting shadows in the night, but then my vision concentrated and I could see her features and pale eyes winking out at me. She began to speak and from her elevated tone I could tell Juliana was about to ramble,

"So we have been trying to figure out a way so that Arthur and his knights can't find the stag, right? And none of our basic concealment spells would work, because of the fact that you have to know what it is you are going to conceal, and where it is, and if you are concealing a creature, you have to have its consent or the spell won't work. And we don't know where the Stag is, we have never had any contact with it except for seeing it once, and it would reject any spell we put on it. But I think I have figured out a way to make it so that they can't find it." She paused to take a breath, and then continued, "So I decided that we instead of concealing the Stag, instead we can block Merlin's power to find it."

I briefly considered her words, and then shook my head, her logic made no sense to me.

"Juliana, isn't concealing the Stag the same as preventing Merlin from finding it? And we can't do a concealment spell, so yet again that's impossible." I said. Shaking her head, she replied,

"No, no. See, the spell won't be on the Stag. It will be on Merlin. We are going to block his magic. He won't be able to use his magic at all; it will be completely drained from him. And he is the only one with the abilities to track the Stag so if we remove his power, we prevent the entire group from finding the Stag." I gasped, suddenly realizing what she had, a fact so simple that neither of us had thought of it until now,

"If we take away Merlin's power, we take away the power of the group. Those knights can't tap into the forest, they are only here to restrain the Stag once Merlin tracks it down." Suddenly another problem came to my mind, "How can we maintain a spell like that, when we are tracking the Stag ourselves and keeping up a glamour?" Juliana froze, and then her face looked downcast.

"Oh…. true." Then a spark of illumination came to my mind.

"If we bind the spell to the crystal, we won't need to maintain it! It's not a spell that needs constant infusions of power so if we put enough original power into the crystal, then the spell will feed on that until it is completed and all of Merlin's power is blocked!" Juliana's face lit up again, and I could feel a smile dancing over my own lips. We are often overjoyed when we resolve a magical problem, or collaborate to produce what we like to think of as a kind of genius. Juliana and I have been close friends for over five years, and in that time we have found a concert and harmony with one another.

Juliana and I moved to the top of the hillside and kneeling I released a soft globe of fire into the air to light what we did. We removed the crystal from our leather sack. The crystal was a perfect sphere made of cloudy white. We had produced it from a collision of our magic when we were young and we were still not completely certain of all of its properties. The one thing we did know was that it was an excellent holder and conduit for magic. Placing our hands on the globe Juliana recited the words for transfer of power in Old Celtic and then we focused our magic into the globe, willing it to pass from our hands into the crystal. It was as if a current of light was running through my body, making my limbs tremble as I directed it through my hands, a soft glow rising from my skin and moving into the globe, the same glow was emitted from Juliana's hands. We stood together, cupping the crystal in our hands, an orange light falling on us from above from my fiery globe, our hands covered in a stream of light. The magic felt like sparks erupting in my body, an overwhelming energy rushing through me. All my mind was focused on the spell, I saw Merlin's power in my mind, saw it bound to the crystal, entrapped and locked. We willed our magic to stop Merlin's, to take his power and draw it into the crystal, blocking his gift and power. I don't know how long Juliana and I stood there, fueling our power into the crystal.

We completed the spell and the glow receded from the crystal, the power contained within its opaque white surface. Crippling exhaustion spread in my body, my limbs suddenly feeling as if they weighed too much to even hold them up, my mind barely capable of registering what was going on. My body felt as if it was floating and then the world became to revolve and a hard surface struck my frame and darkness crowded at the edges of my vision. _Juliana_…_where's Juliana?_ That was the last thought to flit through my mind and then there was silence and I was aware of nothing.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Merlin awoke he knew something had changed. Some part of his existence had been altered, removed and departed, erased as if it had never been.

And as he rose from where he had been laying on the ground at the base of a tree, the other knights and Arthur still lying in various positions around the campfire, Merlin knew immediately what was absent. The usual pressure of the magic within his body on his veins, the hum of energy that existed in a realm outside of himself, it was gone. His magic was gone.

It was as if a limb had been severed, sliced away from him while he slept with no knowledge of it. It was gone; his magic was gone, taken from him. Merlin's stomach sank as he thought of the only person, or people, powerful enough to block his magic. The two boys, it had to be them. He could feel their magical imprint on his magic, forming strong barriers around his power. In his mind Merlin traced the imprint of the spell and found it was leading to a clearing south of their current location.

Merlin sat up from where he had been laying on the forest floor, shaking the damp leaves out of his hair and off his clothing. Merlin picked his way across the sleeping bodies of the knights over to where Arthur was sleeping. The two knights who had kept watch during the night watched Merlin with some interest as Merlin knelt beside Arthur and shook his shoulder, whispering urgently,

"Wake up Arthur." Arthur blearily opened his eyes and moaned before rolling up to the sitting position. He snapped,

"What do you want Merlin?" Merlin told him in a low, frantic voice,

"My magic, my magic is gone." Arthur blinked at him and tilted his head to the side, a confused look flitting across his face.

"What do you mean, gone? How could you have lost something like that?"

"The two boys, the ones who attacked us yesterday. They preformed a spell while I was sleeping, blocking my power."

"Why would they want to do that? It's not like your powers are that useful anyways."

"If I don't have my powers, we can't track the Stag. If we can't track the Stag, we can't find the Stag." Realization slowly dawned on Arthur's face and he groaned, kneading his knuckles in his forehead. He muttered slowly, as if he was trying to keep his patience but failing,

"So those two boys blocked your power. And now there's no way to find the Stag. Any way to undo the spell?" Merlin considered this for a moment and then replied,

"No way that I can think of. However, I can tell you where the spell is originating from. You see, I can track the residue of magic between me and wherever the spell is coming from. I don't know if that's where the boys are, but the spell blocking my powers is coming from an area due south of where we are." Arthur nodded and stood, a look of determination hardening his face. Merlin scrambled to his feet as well. Arthur barked out a series of quick orders,

"You three," he pointed to the knights on duty, and the other knight that had been added to this mission but was not part of Arthur's specially trained group, "Go back to Camelot and tell my father that we are now tracking down a pair of sorcerers. We are going to capture them and they will lead us to the Stag. Tell him we need reinforcements and to send another brigade of troops as quickly as possible. Everyone else, wake up and get moving. We leave in 10 minutes." The three knights acknowledged the command and left immediately, heading off into the forest in the direction of Camelot. The rest of the knights rose slowly and began clearing up the camp. Merlin exclaimed incredulously,

"You aren't seriously thinking of going after them?" Arthur turned to Merlin and frowned at him, as if confused why Merlin was still standing there, bothering him. He replied,

"Of course I am. Those two brats knocked my entire brigade unconscious and they are directly blocking our ability to complete the mission. I am going to find them and make them lead us to the Stag, since they seem to know how to find it better then you do." Merlin cried out,

"What happened to not going after them?" Arthur shrugged,

"That was before they took away our ability to find the Stag. Plus, now we have a way to find them since you can track the spell. Ergo… of course I'm going after them!" Arthur turned away and began to strap on his armor that he had removed for the night. Merlin followed and asked, a note of disbelief still in his voice,

"And how to you propose to capture them? Do you not remember what happened last time we fought them?" Arthur's voice was confident and self-assured,

"We underestimated them last time, that won't happen again." He flashed a bright, recklessly excited smile at Merlin, "Don't worry Merlin, I've got a plan."


	9. Chapter 9

When I woke up sunlight was blazing down through the trees of the forest. I went to sit up and moaned softly as my entire body ached, and exploded in soreness. My head was pounding slightly as well and I felt like I had been up for days, my mind ringing with exhaustion.

I propped my elbows on the ground and managed to push myself into a sitting position. A few feet away from me Juliana was laying on her back, her eyes closed. I panicked for a moment before I realized she was just sleeping. Between us, fallen into a pile of leaves, lay the crystal, glinting silver in the bright sunlight.

I stared at the crystal, and then cursed, remembering why I was so exhausted. The spell Juliana and I had done to block Merlin's powers had drained us of all our energy, which is why we had blacked out at the end. I frowned, it wasn't often Juliana and I would become exhausted from doing a spell…but Merlin was more powerful than we had thought. It had taken nearly all of Juliana and mine's combined energy to block his power. My thoughts were beginning to run in circles and the pounding in my head had become a headache.

"Juliana…" I called. When she didn't respond I spoke louder and repeated her name over and over again, "Juliana, Juliana, Juliana, Juliana…" Finally her eyes opened and she glanced at me and snapped in an irritated voice,

"What?" I sighed, Juliana tended to be testy when she was tired and she disliked being woken up when she was sleeping.

"It's the middle of the day…we should probably get up." Juliana's eyes widened slightly,

"What the…Did you black out too after we finished the spell?" I nodded,

"Yes, and despite the fact we slept all night and half the day I still feel exhausted."

"Me too." I didn't say out loud what I was thinking because I was sure Juliana had already realized it herself: It might take us days to completely recover and get over the effects of the spell. Until then we were going to sore and exhausted, basically weak and unprotected. The next few days were not going to be fun. Juliana broke the silence by saying,

"Ok, let's get up then." I nodded in agreement but didn't move. My whole body felt so drowsy and weighed down that I didn't think I was every going to move again. I titled my head and smiled at Juliana,

"Yeah…You can get up first." She smirked back,

"You woke _me_ up so you can get up first." I sighed and slowly got to my feet, every muscle in my body groaning and aching in pain, dulled by exhaustion. I groaned dramatically and Juliana giggled then rose to her feet.

We packed up the ancient magic text and the crystal into the leather packs we carried around with us, as well as our weapons. When we finished Juliana asked,

"So…what's the plan?" I thought about it for a moment,

"We might as well try and track the Stag for the rest of the day, then set up camp when it gets dark since we'll need the rest." She nodded and we set off, following the thin connection of magic that hovered like a lost spider web between the Stag and us.

LATER

We tracked the Stag further South, towards the center of the forest. As we got closer the connection became stronger, a plane of threads reaching to all the power in the forest, layers and layers of magic, old and new. It would take years to sort through and prick apart every separate piece of magic and its purpose and origin point. They were like thousands of pathways, some fresh, some worn away, and all tangling with each other. The trick was to find the pathway that would lead us to the Stag.

In my mind's eye the different threads of magic glowed different colors depending on their essence and element, I could see the colors for mind magic and fire magic the best since those were my affinities: mind magic was a soft silver light while fire magic boiled a bright red. Today however, I could barely even discern the colors since my supply of magic was so exhausted by the spell. Juliana seemed to have a bit more energy than me since she could draw on the earth magic of the forest to give her energy.

I had barely noticed that night was beginning to fall until Juliana told me, "Its getting dark, we should probably stop." I nodded slowly, my brain hardly operating. I took our bedrolls and blankets out of our packets and set up our beds in a small clearing next to a massive oak tree. We slept out in the open most nights unless we could find an abandoned barn or house to sleep in. When I was finished I turned around to see Juliana standing in the center of the clearing, her eyes closed. I was wondering what she was doing when suddenly broken branches began to fly out from under piles of leaves and moss and gather into a large pile in the clearing, each of them flying into place to make a stack of firewood. She opened her eyes and remarked,

"I didn't feel like walking around to get firewood." I laughed slightly and stepped over to the pile. I stared at the wood for a moment, picturing bright flames dancing on the inside of my eyelids. The woodpile began to smoke and then tongues of fire came flickering out of it, consuming the wood and making a small cherry fire. I plopped down on my bedroll, dragging it close to the fire and placing my hands just above the flames, watching in enchantment as the flames rose up to lick and curl around my palms, attracted to my magic, my hands covered in a thousand flickering flames that wrapped themselves close to my skin. The fire didn't burn my skin, it never did, I could touch molten lava and not get burned.

I heard a faint humming and glanced up to see Juliana sitting across from me, looking down at something she held cupped in her hands. I looked closer and realized it was a hemp bracelet, Juliana braided them in her spare time, I always wore one of the bracelets she made me wrapped around my wrist. Juliana began to braid the hemp cords and I reached over to my pack and pulled out the magic text. It was very old, I didn't even know how old, it had been given to us by a gypsy fortune teller when we were young and first started traveling together. The fortune teller had also told us that we would be "the priestesses of kings", whatever that was supposed to mean.

I opened the text and began to carefully flip through its crinkled parchment pages, looking for information on the Stag. I had looked before, but you never knew, information disappeared and reappeared in this book based on whatever we needed most, it was a book with a mind of its own. I read and Juliana braided by the light of the fire as darkness swamped the forest, circling us in blackness while our fire created a small pool of light. Suddenly Juliana's voice drifted out in the sweet notes of a song:

_The ash grove, how graceful, how plainly tis speaking, _

_the harp wind through it playing has language for me. _

I looked up and smiled, she was singing one of our favorite songs, it came from Wales, west of here, but its lines were well-loved across England. Juliana continued to sing, the Ash grove song fitting her voice perfectly, which had a depth and richness despite its sweet, wistful tone. I closed the book and lay back on my bedroll, listening to her song:

_Whenever the light through its branches is breaking__  
__a host of kind faces is gazing on me.__  
_

_The friends of my childhood again are before me,__  
__each step wakes a memory as freely I roam.__  
_

_With soft whispers laden its leaves rustle o'er me,__  
__the ash grove, the ash grove again alone is my home.___

_Down yonder green valley where streamlets meander__  
__when twilight is fading I pensively rove.__  
_

_Or at the bright noontide in solitude wander__  
__amid the dark shades of the lonely ash grove.__  
_

_Twas there while the blackbird was cheerfully singing__  
__I first met that dear one, the joy of my heart._

_I find other faces fond bending to greet me,__  
__the ash grove, the ash grove alone is my home.__  
_

As I lay on the forest floor Juliana's voice drifted over me, the words spiraling and dancing to a tune of their own. I stared up at the stars, winking out from the sky in a pattern and form only they fully understood, brightly burning in the sky from the past into the present. The stars and the song entangled and blazed in my mind until my eyes closed and every bright point of thought in my mind fluttered into sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Something hard and rough was pressed against my lips. That was the first thing I was aware of when I fled out of my dreams and into wakefulness. The second thing I was aware of was the rustle and small movements of several bodies surrounding me. The third and final thing I was aware of was when my eyes opened and I looked straight into the face of Prince Arthur, whose hand was pressed over my mouth. I was laying on my bedroll on the forest floor and he was crouched over me, holding a hand over my lips while he tightened a cord around my wrists.

I lay there, frozen in shock for a moment, and then I opened my mouth and sank my teeth into Arthur's hand. Arthur's head whipped towards me and his eyes widened in shock before he released a shriek of pain. I grunted, and dug my teeth in harder, as he tried to pull his hand away my teeth just sank further into his skin. Arthur shouted frantically,

"Get off of me!" I grunted again, and opened my mouth; he snatched his hand away and sprang backwards away from me, staring at the bright bruise and teeth marks on his skin in horror. I leaned up and took in the situation: There were five knights including Arthur in our clearing, Juliana was lying on the ground while two of the knights bond her wrists with cords. By this point Arthur was coming back towards me with the other two knights behind him, his face determined. I rolled onto my knees and leapt to my feet, trying to pull my hands out of the cords binding them.

The rope cords tied around my wrists held however. I cursed, and then looked up to see Arthur and the knights coming closer, they were looking at me with slight fear. I tried to think of a plan but it felt like my brain wasn't working. Arthur told me in a low, commanding voice,

"Don't try anything. We took your weapons and if you try any magic you'll regret it." My eyes widened in shock and I stared at him in disbelief. How could he possibly know Juliana and I had magic? I replied quickly,

"I don't know what you're talking about. My friend and I have no magic." Speaking of which…I looked over at Juliana but she was still fast asleep, despite the fact that the knights had just tied her wrists together. I scowled, why did she have to be such a heavy sleeper? But I guess I had slept through them binding my hands too. Arthur grinned cunningly at me, his voice condescending,

"Why of course you don't." I glared at him, I didn't care if he was a prince; he was being very aggravating. That and the fact he was currently trying to kidnap Juliana and I was really making me mad. By now Arthur and the knights were only a few feet away from me, Arthur held his sword out in front of him, its blade was shadowed in the night but I could see it gleaming as it hovered just a few inches from my chest. I froze where I was. Arthur smiled triumphantly, telling me,

"That's right, come quietly and no one will get home. Now stand still so Tristan here can bind your ankles." The knight standing to the left of Arthur, Tristan took out a rope like the one tying my wrists together and became to walk slowly towards me, a cautious expression on his face. I watched Arthur's eyes, waiting for the moment when his attention would leave me. Suddenly Arthur's eyes flicked from my face over to where Juliana was laying. Instantly, I acted, kicking out my leg, aiming for Arthur's kneecap. The heel of my boot slammed into Arthur's knee, as it did I reached out and placed my hands on either side of Arthur's sword. My skin prickled as I pressed my palms flat against the cold steel, the rope binds resting just on the edge of the sword. Then in a quick motion I pulled my hands back along the sword. The edge of the sword sliced through the rope cord binding my hands and the cord fell off my wrists.

In the few seconds it had taken me to kick Arthur and cut off my binds, the knights had not yet reacted. In fact, they were staring at me in some confusion, I guess they weren't used to prisoners resisting. I took advantage of their surprise by sprinting away from Arthur and over to where Juliana was laying on the forest floor. I shook her once, and then grabbing her around the shoulders tried to pull her to her feet, shouting,

"Juliana! Wake up now!" Her eyes opened and she gasped slightly as she saw the knights standing in the clearing, and looking down, she saw the rope cord wrapped around her wrists. I didn't wait for her to respond; instead I grabbed her arm and ran, sprinting in the opposite direction of where the knights were. For the first few steps I had to half-drag Juliana, when her body reacted and she began to run behind me. I let go of her arm and focused on dodging trees and brambles. I had no idea where we were going, but from behind us I could hear rustling and crashing sounds as the knights began to chase us. Juliana shouted at me, her voice sounding completely confused,

"What's going on? And where are you going?" I didn't waste my breath by replying, instead I spoke quickly instead her mind: _I have no idea. Somehow they found us. I don't know where we're going; we just have to get away from them_.

The crashing sounds behind us were getting closer, and I was beginning to breathe heavily, it was a bit difficult to sprint when you had just been sleeping a few moments ago. This part of the forest looking completely unfamiliar, but I could vaguely hear a sound like rushing water. Did that mean we were close to a river?

My question got answered for me as suddenly the ground dropped away ahead and I found myself sprinting full speed at what was a wide, rushing river. I dug my heels into the ground and skidded to a stop just at the edge. Juliana appeared next to me, we both stared down at the racing water, which appeared pitch black in the night, looking like shadows were swarming over the land. The sound of the knights running was very close now, they were really very loud, they needed to get the talent of moving softly. I asked Juliana quickly,

"So, we swim then?"

"Wait, I can't swim with bonds," Juliana answered. I was looking around for a sharp rock to cut her bonds, however she just stared down at the rope cord around her wrists for a moment and then the pieces of rope suddenly slithered apart, falling into threads off her wrists. I was confused for a moment then I remembered that the rope came from plant matter, and plants were of the earth, which Juliana had power over. We both turned back to the river. Fear was fluttering slightly in my chest; both Juliana and I were good swimmers but this river was rushing furiously, and swimming at night would make it doubly difficult.

Juliana and I grabbed hands and then together we leapt off the riverbank, as we jumped I could hear the clang of armor and weapons directly behind us and I knew the knights had caught up. We hurtled down towards the churning black river; I felt my feet break the surface of the water and then water closed over my head as I completely submerged in the river. For a moment everything was black and cold, and then I kicked my legs and shot up to the surface. For a terrifying moment I didn't see Juliana, but then she bobbed up next to me.

Back on the river bank the knights were standing at the edge looking down at us, they looked uncertainly at Arthur, unsure whether to jump in after us. I grinned, if they jumped in wearing their armor they would sink right to the bottom and drown. I turned and began to swim towards the opposite bank. Swimming was more difficult then I could have predicted, the current was strong and pulled me down, water rushed around my head and spray from the river sprang into my eyes. I spotted a rock in the middle of the river, about halfway between the two banks and I swam towards it, I needed to rest or I was going to get pulled away.

Juliana reached the rock first, she dragged herself on top of it, and leaning back down offered a hand to me. I grabbed her hand and pushed myself onto the rock's surface. It was slippery with water, and covered with moss and lichen, it was just large enough for both Juliana and I to lay on it. I lay there panting for a moment, completely exhausted, my head pounding. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a shout from the bank. I leaned up and sure enough Arthur was yelling at us,

"Are you guys crazy? Come back before you both drown!" I frowned, why did he care if we drowned or not? But we weren't going back; being prisoners of the prince of Camelot wouldn't end well for us. Juliana was apparently thinking slightly the same thing since she shouted back over the sound of the river,

"There's no way we're going back!" Arthur sighed slightly, and turning, he said something to Merlin, who had appeared by his side. I smiled, how was it that Merlin always managed to avoid the fights but show up when he was needed? Merlin stepped forward right to the edge of the river, his eyes focused on us. My smile turned into a frown, what was he doing? Suddenly Merlin pulled out from behind his back a small leather knapsack. For a moment I was confused, and then I gasped softly when out of the knapsack Merlin pulled our book of magic. Reaching out, he extended his arm over the river, holding the book of magic in the air as if he were about to drop it in the water. I jumped to my feet, nearly slipping on the moss, screaming,

"Don't you dare drop that!" That book contained all of our magical knowledge, our spells, our records, everything Juliana and I had done and discovered for years. The knowledge in that book had kept us alive; it was our most valuable possession. Besides that, it was a book! What kind of sadistic person would drop a book in a river? Juliana stood up slowly beside me, commenting,

"I knew we should have kept all of knowledge in something less fragile than a book." I ignored her as Merlin shouted to us,

"Come back to this bank and I swear I will not drop it." I scowled, there was a strong possibility that he was bluffing, but I wasn't exactly willing to take that chance. I turned to Juliana,

"Any brilliant plans come to mind?" She shrugged,

"Nothing, come on lets go back." I nodded and leapt off the rock back into the water. I paddled in the direction of the bank trying to plan in my head how we were going to get out of this one. The currents of the river dragged at my body and rushing water lapping against my face. I shivered, my body shaking with the cold from the water, and focused on making it to the bank. From behind me I could hear the splashing of water as Juliana swam. The erosion from the water had washed away most of the ground near the river. Instead there was a high sloping muddy path up from the river to the bank where the knights were standing. I reached out and digging my hands into the mud, began to climb up, Arthur and Merlin's faces looking down at me expectantly.

A strangled yell rang out from behind me. I whirled around just in time to see Juliana's head disappearing under the water. For a moment everything held still and then I realized she was not coming up again. I lurched forward, legs tensing to dive back into the river. Suddenly something heavy fell upon, dragging me backwards away from the river. I glanced down to see a pair of arms wrapping around me. I looked back and my eyes met a pair of impossibly bright blue eyes staring right back at me.

"No!" I screamed, "Let me go!" I tried to tear out of Arthur's grip, panic rushing to fill me. I had to save Juliana, had to get to her before she drowned. I nearly got free but then more arms were pulling me back, away from the river. I kicked and scratched wildly, not caring who I hit. Mud flew around us as Arthur grabbed my shirt and threw me up onto the bank. I struggled to my feet, driving my fist into his stomach, eyes blurring with tears of anger.

Something flashed in the corner of my vision, down beyond the bank and into the water. It looked like one of the knights had jumped in the river. I glared at the knights trying to restrain me, and focused on the magic bubbling just beneath my surface. Rage held me tight and with that anger I called up heat and fire from within me. In instant my skin was boiling red hot and sparks rolled out of my body. The knights who were holding me yelped in pain and released me, blowing on their hands to cool them down. I darted out from their arms to the edge of the river.

Looking down for a moment I saw nothing but dark churning waters. Then a head broke through the surface and one of the knights appeared in the water. But he wasn't alone. He was holding something in his arms, something he pulled to the surface of the river. I looked closer and gasped as I realized it was Juliana. Swiftly he swam over to the bank and dragged Juliana out of the water. Reaching out I helped him pull her up onto dry ground. Her eyes were closed and when I knelt beside her I realized that she was not breathing.

Cursing under my breath I placed my hands on her chest and threw all of the magic I had into her. My hands were barely visible as dark shadows sparkling with silver light poured out of my body and sank underneath her skin. My head pounded and dark spots clouded my vision but I kept going, funneling all of my power into her body, trying to reawaken her heart, her lungs. As the last of my magic drained from my fingertips I realized that it wasn't enough. My magic alone wasn't going to be enough. She was too close to the boundary between life and death and all my power couldn't bring her back. For a moment anger and pain crushed me and I felt like I was the one who couldn't breathe.

"Boy? What's happening?" Arthur's voice pierced the roar of headache and heartache inside my mind.

"She's…my magic isn't enough to heal her." I managed to answer. Someone knelt beside me and turning slightly I saw Merlin.

"Lift the blocking spell on my magic and use mine," Merlin told me urgently. I stared at him for a moment, confused. Why would he give his power to save Juliana? But there was no time for questions. With my last crumbs of magic I released Merlin's power from the dampening spell. I felt his hand come to rest on top of mine and Juliana. Closing my eyes I pulled on the magic within Merlin, plunging it into Juliana with all the force I had. In my mind's eye I could see Merlin's power as threads of light coating him like a cocoon. One by one I drew the threads into Juliana, restarting her heart, purging her lungs of water. I worked as quickly as I could.

Suddenly I felt movement beneath my hand and someone gasping for breath. I opened my eyes to see Juliana's eyes flying open. I released a small yelp of joy and threw my arms around her,

"You're alive!" I shrieked, overwhelmed with happiness.

"Yes, I'm alive. Now let me go Alianor before you suffocate me," Juliana replied weakly. I released her and she coughed for a moment before her breathing got back to normal. For a long moment we all stayed as we were, with Merlin and me sitting beside Juliana and Arthur, the knight who had saved her, and the other knights standing above us. Then, of course, Arthur was the one to break the silence:

"What kind of a boy is named Alianor?"


	11. Chapter 11Revealing of a Secret

I glanced back at Arthur, he was staring at both Juliana and I, a questioning look on his face. I felt myself pale slightly, how were we going to explain this?

"Er…Umm…" I began to say, hoping that something would come to me. My mind stayed blank though, I was completely drained of magic and thinking ability. I looked at Juliana, hoping she had thought of something. She just laid back down on the ground and shot me a look that said, "I almost just died; don't expect me to think of something." I decided to just start babbling; maybe it would confuse them enough to distract them, "Well, Alianor is an old family name, actually it's a very common name in the province we come from, and well there's no reason for you to suspect that we aren't boys, because we are, and yes…" I trailed off into silence.

Apparently my babbling distraction technique did not work as Arthur suddenly remarked, "And Alianor, your hair…" I could feel my eyes widen slightly and I thought, _No, it can't be…_ If all my magic was drained that meant that my glamour had disappeared as well. I reached up and there was long blond hair, drenched with water, falling over my shoulders. I looked down and could feel myself blush brightly as through my wet tunic the outline of my chest was visible. I reached deep within me and tried to drag up some magic to make my glamour re-appear. But there was nothing, I was completely drained; I had nothing left to remake my glamour.

"Umm…" I started again, trying to think of something. Since I could not come up with an explanation I decided to just go with anger, "How dare you ask me these things when my friend just almost died? She just came back to life and you're asked me about my hair and name?" Arthur, Merlin, and the rest of the knights stared at me in surprise. From behind me I heard Juliana sigh in exasperation.

"Speaking of which," Juliana stated, "Thank you for helping Alianor, Merlin." She leaned up and looked around the knights until her eyes fell on the knight who had jumped in the river to save her. He had taken off his armor to go in the river and his tunic and breeches were dripping wet. His short brown hair curled lightly and his dark brown eyes were fixed anxiously on Juliana. She nodded at him and said, "Thanks for pulling me out of the river, er…."

"Lancelot," the knight told her at Juliana's awkward silence since she did not know his name. Juliana nodded and replied,

"Thanks, Lancelot." Arthur looked around at the knights and commented,

"I should introduce everyone; we are going to spending time together…"

"Wait, what?" Both Juliana and I shrieked at the same time. Everyone and I looked at us in surprise.

"Well," Merlin told us uncertainly, "We are going to find the Stag together."

"Is that why you decided to kidnap us?" I asked indignantly.

"This can be explained later," Arthur said in a commanding voice. I scowled at him, yes; you can explain why you choose to kidnap us at a _later _time. "Let's go find a safe place to camp." He half turned away and then turned back, "Oh, and that's Tristan," he pointed to one of the knights, a tall man with long black hair and coal black eyes. "Gawain," Arthur gestured to the next man, with short blond hair and bulky muscles, "and Galahad." Galahad had light red hair and dark brown eyes, he smiled cheerfully at us. "And Merlin, who you somehow already know. And I," Arthur announced grandly, "am Prince Arthur." He bowed slightly and grinned broadly at us. I titled my head to the side and stared at him in confusion, why was he telling us who he was? Then I remembered that we were not supposed to know and I had read his name out of his mind.

I chuckled and replied in a voice that held a hint of mocking, "Nice to meet you Prince Arthur. And the rest of your knights." I laughed silently to myself as Arthur started in surprise and looked at us in shock. I guess he was used to people having something more of a reaction when he told them he was a prince. Ignoring Arthur the hurt look on Arthur's face, and the amused looks on the knights' and Merlin's faces, I got to my feet. I offered Juliana a hand and she got to her feet as well. I reached for our bag which was sitting on the shore where Merlin had dropped it. Before I could pick it up someone snatched it off the ground. I glanced up to see Merlin holding it. I glared at him, debating whether to attempt to get it back, and why Merlin even wanted it. My exhaustion had settled right into my bones however, and all I could think about now was sleeping, sleeping until my magic was restored and every step did not make every part of my body ache.

Juliana and I followed the knights back to where they had been camped. When we arrived I felt Juliana grab my arm from behind and she asked everyone in her nice voice, "Would you mind if I borrowed Alianor for a moment?" Arthur narrowed his eyes at us in suspicion,

"I guess so…but no escaping! You are still our captives." I was tempted to roll my eyes at him but did not get the chance as Juliana tightened her grip on my arm and dragged me out of the clearing where they were camped and pulled me a little distance into the woods. She stopped suddenly and whirled around to face me, letting go of my arm. I stumbled to a stop, looking at Juliana in confusion. Then I stepped slightly backwards in surprise at the severely irritated look on Juliana's face.

"Alianor!" she exclaimed angrily, "How could you have let your glamour drop? They're going to figure out you're a girl, if they haven't already!" My jaw dropped slightly, was she serious?

"Hey, my glamour dropped because I was trying to save your life and lost all my magic in the process!" I replied indignantly.

"Yeah, trying to save my life because I nearly drowned in a river that you decided to cross," Juliana snapped back. I frowned at her, normally we never fought, there had to be some other reason behind this. Juliana kept yelling, but now I felt like she was yelling more at herself than me, "And how in the hell did we get kidnapped in the first place? This isn't supposed to happen to us; this wasn't supposed to happen at all. And now they know who we are and…" she trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself and staring off into the distance.

"Juliana…" I said slowly, "We're both exhausted and that puts us in awful moods. And you're right; it was idiotic of me to drop my glamour. But is this about something else too?" Juliana was silent for a moment but then she looked up at me and answered,

"Nothing…it's nothing. I'll tell you later. For now let's just let some rest." I considered pressing her but I let it go. We would both be in better moods once we had slept. We wandered back to the camp in silence. At the camp the knights, Merlin, and Arthur seemed to be in some discussion about the Stag. We both just grabbed our bedrolls from the packs and laid them out underneath the trees, absolutely nothing on our mind but sleep. Arthur and Lancelot paused in their discussion and came over to us.

"How long do you think you'll sleep?" Arthur asked. Juliana just glared at them and Arthur stepped back slightly while Lancelot raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"There's no telling…As long as it takes for them to get their magic back and for their bodies to be restored." Merlin answered for us. I flopped down into my bedroll and covered myself in a blanket. Juliana did the same, rolling over onto her side so her back was to us.

"Yeah just wake us when the Stag shows up," I said jokingly. Arthur smiled,

"So you will help us track it!" I rolled my eyes,

"We'll talk about it when I wake up. And then maybe we'll help."

"I think for now both of you are greatly annoying Alianor's friend. Perhaps you had better be quiet." Lancelot remarked, his eyes on Juliana. She rolled over, glared at us again and then rolled back over again, muttering,

"Again, thank you Lancelot." I stuck my tongue out at her back and then laying down I closed my eyes. I heard Lancelot, Merlin, and Arthur laughing softly and then the sounds of their footsteps as they walked away from us. For a moment I was conscious only of the rustle of leaves as the wind moved through the branches overhead, the soft sounds of forest animals, and the even cadence of Juliana's breathing. Then I spiraled down into nothingness and all was darkness.


	12. Chapter 12 Coming Together

"How long do you think they'll keep sleeping?" A voice broke through my dreams; it belonged to someone who was vaguely familiar to me. Another voice followed the first:

"There's no telling. But it's been a full day and a half." Another voice followed his:

"Are you sure this is normal? I've never known human beings that could sleep for entire days." The second voice returned:

"It's the magic. It becomes part of their body, and when you use the magic to excess, it drains the body. Alianor used all of his magic up so the body is replenishing it. As for the other one…he is sleeping to get his magic back, and also part of me thinks that his mind is trying to recover as well."

"Speaking of which," the first voice dropped a little lower, "Should we ask them about, well… you know. Ask them about _that._"

There was no way that these voices were part of my dreams. It was time to wake up and face reality. I forced my eyelids open and was nearly blinded as bright light rushed into my eyes. Moaning slightly I blinked back tears of pain and waited till the clouds over my vision cleared and I could see. I was staring up at swaying leaves and tree branches. I leaned up slightly and looking around saw three faces that were becoming very familiar to me. Arthur, Lancelot, and Merlin were all seated around the clearing; their voices must have been the ones that I heard. The other knights were gone, maybe off hunting for food. Slowly I moved up into a sitting position, pushing the blanket off of me. My head was buzzing and I was disoriented but I felt more rested than I had in weeks. And when I reached within myself I felt my magic, pulsing strong and renewed inside me.

"You're awake!" Arthur exclaimed. Turning towards him I realized that all three of them were staring at me in surprise like I had just woken up from an eternal sleep. I smiled to myself, maybe Juliana and I were a little bit like Sleeping Beauty…there was even a prince here when we woke up! I nodded to him and responded, my voice raspy from sleep,

"I am…so it's been a day and a half that we've been asleep?"

"Yes… and your friend is still sleeping," answered Merlin. I turned my head and sure enough Juliana was still laying there, eyes closed. I sighed, if it was time for me to get up, it was time for her to get up. Leaning in her direction I spoke loudly,

"Time to wake up!" Juliana's eyes opened and she glanced at me before muttering,

"I was awake; I just chose not to get up yet."

"Sure, of course." I grinned at her. Rolling out of my bedroll my muscles slowly ached and unwound as I got to my feet. I was sore all over and there was a light buzzing in my head, but I still felt better than I had in days. Now that my mind was awake again, a hundred questions were ticking through my thoughts. I quieted them; they could wait till I was fully awake and had something in my stomach. Maybe splashing some water on my face would get rid of that annoying buzzing noise in my brain…I turned to leave the clearing and look for a stream. A voice stopped my suddenly,

"Where do you think you're going?" Turning back I saw Arthur getting up to follow me.

"To wash my face…I'm not going to try and escape! And how would I escape anyways, without any of our weapons or supplies?" I snapped back at him, already walking away. I could heard Juliana laughing softly as I walked out of hearing distance of the clearing. It looked like it was about mid-morning, and the entire forest was lit with sunlight. After a few more steps I happened upon a small stream. This wasn't the same river that Juliana and I had jumped into; it was probably a smaller offshoot of that river.

I flopped onto the bank and pulled off my boots and socks. Carefully I stepped down into the stream, jumping slightly as the cold water hit my feet. The bottom of the stream was covered with small pebbles that tickled my feet and I cupped water in my hands, splashing it against my face. The water did help, I could feel my mind waking up and shaking off the cobwebs of nearly 2 days of sleep. Suddenly I saw a glimmering image on the water, just at my feet. I leaned down, staring into the water. Staring back at me was my own face. There were faint shadows under my eyes and water dripping down my skin from where I had splashed myself. Tangled dark blond hair fell down from my shoulders. Glancing down at the hair I remembered that my glamour was down. Then, in the next moment I realized that with my magic back, I could resume the glamour. Quickly I closed my eyes and summoned my power. The magic washed over me in smooth waves and when I opened my eyes I stared down at my reflection to find the masculine version of myself gazing back at me. Short, cropped blond hair had replaced my long locks, and my chest had flattened and my shoulders broadened. I smiled, satisfied. Even if they suspected I was a girl, right now I looked undoubtedly like a young man.

I stepped out of the stream and pulled my socks and boots back onto my feet. Wandering back to camp I heard the smell of meat cooking and my stomach grumbled. The downside of sleeping for long periods of time besides the wasted hours is you miss out on a lot of meals.

When I came back into the clearing the knights were putting the finishing touches on what looked like a meal of venison and rabbit, along with some vegetables. I smiled to myself, Juliana was helping the knights cook and had actually taken over the finishing of the meal. She usually always cooked for us, so it wasn't that surprising. Still the sight of all the knights standing back and watching in some shock as Juliana cooked was a little amusing. Juliana divided up the meal and handed each of a plate heaped with food. When she gave me my plate I couldn't help saying teasingly,

"I see you took over the cooking then?" She smiled back at me, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Well," she stated, "I wasn't going to trust a bunch of knights to make you food."

"Awwww thanks!" I replied, jokingly. I flopped down on the ground and proceeded to eat hungrily, ignoring everyone else until I was finished. When I looked up from my plate all the knights and Merlin were staring at Juliana and I expectantly. I sighed and reaching over to Juliana poked her in the shoulder,

"I think they want to talk to us," I told her loudly. She glanced up at the knights and Merlin, and sighing put aside her plate.

"So, we have a few questions to ask you-" before Arthur could keep talking I quickly cut him off,

"Um, actually we have a few questions to ask you. And seeing as how we were the ones who got kidnapped, we get to go first!" Arthur sighed slightly and leaning back motioned for us to go ahead.

"So," Juliana began, "why did you kidnap us in the first place?"

"We had to find you," Merlin answered, "so you would release the blocking spell on my powers. There was no way we were going to find the Stag if we couldn't track it."

"How did you find us in the first place to kidnap us?" I asked, confused as I remembered how I had woken up with them there.

"That was easy," Merlin told us smugly, "I just followed the trail from your magic on me." My eyes widened in disbelief, had we actually forgotten to erase our magical trail after the spell?

"Y-you…" I stammered in shock for a moment, then whirling to face Juliana I exclaimed, "How did we let this happen?" She had her own shocked expression, but she managed to answer,

"We collapsed after the spell, remember? I guess we forgot to cover up the magic…Goodness, we are usually never this forgetful or foolish."

I grumbled something unhappily in response, scowling. We were lucky that we hadn't brought worse trouble upon us, by not concealing the remnants of a spell. Taking a deep breath I turned back to the men and asked, "Merlin's blocking spell is off and we aren't planning on putting it back on. So I think its time you let us go."

"Not quite…" Lancelot murmured. He shot us a grin before continuing, "We have decided that having more than one sorcerer as we try to find this Stag, is probably a good thing."

"You want us to help you capture the Stag?" Juliana asked in surprise.

"Frankly," Arthur began, "You two know the forest much better than we do. At the same time, you two may have better luck finding the Stag if you have Merlin and a band of knights to help you."

"We don't need your help," I snapped immediately. After thinking a moment I could feel myself reconsider, though. Merlin was undoubtedly powerful, and it would be nice to not have to constantly be hunting food and preparing camp while trying to track down a magical being. I shook myself out of the thought, these were knights of Camelot. They could _not_ be trusted.

"We will not help you track down the Stag so you can kill it!" Juliana exclaimed, her voice determined.

"We aren't going to kill it." Arthur replied. I glanced at him skeptically.

"Really?" I asked. All of the knights, Merlin, and Lancelot were staring at Arthur, disbelief registering on some of their faces. I narrowed my eyes, what was going on here?

"All we are going to do," Arthur informed us, firmly, looking around at the knights as well, "is find the Stag, and inform it that it is not welcome on Camelot land. We will not harm it."

"Do you swear?" I asked, "Swear that you will not harm it?" I saw something flicker behind Arthur's eyes, but his voice was firm.

"I swear."


	13. Chapter 13 Merlin Knows!

I sighed, and for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour, paused to let the knights catch up. I was already regretting our decision to join forces with the knights.

A few hours ago it had seemed like a good decision. It could not help having someone to help us find the Stag, and I was sick of trying to avoid or fight the knights. But after a day of tracking the Stag together, I was on the verge of setting something on fire. The knights moved painfully slow, and with every step produced enough noise to scare away all the game. And I was starving.

A rustle to my left caught my attention. I froze, and slowly crept forward, staring into the shadows. A flash of motion and a rabbit leapt out of the underbrush. In a moment I whipped my bow off my back, nocked an arrow to the sting, and fired.

The arrow shot clean through the rabbit and pinned it to the ground. Quickly I ended its life with my sword, silently apologizing for its death and saying the prayers to release its energy and soul to the afterlife. Lifting the rabbit, I turned to the knights.

"I just found our dinner," I told him, nodding at Juliana, "Go find your own."

Galahad chuckled, while both Gawain and Tristan silently stared at us before walking away, bows in hands. Lancelot and Arthur exchanged a look and then followed them.

Juliana took the rabbit from me and set it down on a rock, before beginning the process of skinning it. I crouched down beside her and cleaned the arrow. Merlin had not left with the knights, and sat before us now. I turned to look at him.

"I do not think there's enough here for the three of us," I told him. He shook his head, smiling slightly,

"I am not here for the meal."

"Oh."

There was silence for several more moments. I considered asking him why he was here, but I was hungry and had no patience for the minds of men at the moment. Juliana lit a fire and began to roast the rabbit. I went close to the fire and began to play with the ashes, rubbing my hands over the still hot charred remains. Juliana drew out her bracelet and began to weave.

"I know." Merlin's voice splintered the silence. Both of us raised our eyes to look at him. He was staring at us urgently know, his face nervous. Juliana raised a single eyebrow,

"Know what?" She said calmly, although there was a dangerous undercurrent to her tone.

"Know what you are."

"If your talking about the magic," I said sharply, "We already know that you know. There's no need to repeat it."

"It is not that..." Merlin took a deep breath and then blurted out, "I know that you are girls!"

I heard myself gasp. It was unbelievable, our carefully built lie had just come falling down. He knew.

"You..." I stammered, "y-you have no proof!"

"I know what I saw," He muttered intensely, "After the river, you looked like a woman. And I know that someone of your power must have the glamour ability, which is why you look like a man disguise it well, but you are female."

"And what proof do you have of me?" Juliana asked him. Suddenly Merlin flushed bright red,

"Err, well Lancelot told me... See, when he pulled you out, he, um... well, he had to grab you around the chest and..."

Juliana was now blushing as well. I felt the urge to giggle as Merlin trailed off and looked completely embarrassed.

"Have you told the others?" I asked him.

"No, but I think they have a right to know."

"They do not have a right to know," I exclaimed, "These disguises kept us safe in a world where women traveling alone are prey. They are our freedom."

"I think they might already suspect, Lancelot and Arthur at least do." Juliana commented, her blush starting to fade from her cheeks. I sighed. The knights were proving to be a greater problem then I could have dreamed.

"Do we tell them?" I asked, turning to her. She shrugged,

"Can we trust them? Honestly, I would not mind no longer pretending. But we both have to agree on it."

I shook my head. I could not give up our protection just yet. Once these men knew, we were vulnerable. I needed to know, without a doubt, that they would not betray us.

"Not yet," I replied, "We will wait." I grinned suddenly, "And let us see if they can figure it out on their own."

"What about me?" Merlin asked, reminding both Juliana and I that he was still here.

"Keep quiet," Juliana told him. Removing the rabbit from the flame she cut it into three parts. Tossing one to Merlin she added, "And have some rabbit."


	14. Chapter 14 Gathering Darkness

It was our second day of tracking the Stag together. We were getting very close, the trail of the Stag was glowing brighter in my eyes with each passing hour. But something had changed. As we moved deeper into the forest the world around us was becoming more sinister. Shadows were longer. The bark of trees dark and scarred. Animals kept quiet.

_I do not like this place..._ I read the thought in the mind of Galahad. I tried not to read the thoughts of the knights too frequently, just often enough to know if they meant us any danger. I was used to learning people's thoughts and secrets, but for some reason I did not really want to know what these men thought. Arthur in particular.

_This Stag had better be worth all my blisters_... Gawain thought, glaring down at his feet. I smiled and switched minds again. I was bored so I might as well.

_What is that smell? Smells like water...Wonder if there's a lake nearby..._ This was in Tristan's mind. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. He could smell water? Not even my senses were that attuned.

_I wonder if the Stag is as beautiful as it is in the legends? And I hope that other part of the legends aren't true..._ Merlin mentally rambled. I wondered what part of the legend he could be referring to...

_This does not feel right, why is it so dark?_ Lancelot thought. I guess someone else was picking up on the strangeness of this part of the forest. And finally my powers reluctantly turned to Arthur.

_Wonder what will happen once we get there...Wait, should not think about that. You never know who's listening..._ Suddenly Arthur closed off his thoughts, barriers closing in around his mind. With a shock I was jolted back into my own mind. Arthur had just managed to block my power. It was possible for non-magical beings to develop mental walls, but who had taught him to do that? And what had he been thinking about? I decided to ask him about it tonight. Then, finally, I read Juliana's mind.

_Hmmm, a squirrel...for some reason I really want to chase it. _I fell out of Juliana's mind, trying to resist the urge to burst out laughing. She had been walking in front of me. Now she paused, and turned to look at me. I tried to give her a blank, innocent look. She narrowed her eyes and dropped back to walk next to me.

"Were you reading my mind?" She asked suspiciously.

"Err, yes... I was bored," I replied, winking at her. She sighed,

"Next time when you are bored, just stare at the trees or something."

"No, I can not do that. I might see a squirrel and really want to chase it," I told her, trying to keep a straight face. Suddenly Galahad's voice rang out,

"Why would you want to chase a squirrel?" He had turned around as he was walking to stare at us.

"Hey!" I protested, "He was the one who wanted to chase a squirrel first!" I pointed at Juliana.

"Well, I was bored!" She exclaimed indignantly, glaring at me. "Apparently both of us do odd things when we are bored!" Both of us were glaring at each other now.

"No one will be chasing any squirrels!" Arthur shouted back from where he was walking at the front. I giggled softly and whispered to Juliana,

"See, I win." She glared at me again and then strode off to walk with Lancelot. Galahad chuckled,

"You two are the strangest boys I have ever met," He commented. I shrugged.

"I guess-" suddenly I broke off speaking as pain shattered my head. It felt like a headache, but the worst headache I had ever felt. I groaned softly and pressed my hands to my head as pain spilt it apart.

"What's wrong with him?" I barely heard Galahad saying as I dropped down to my knees. It felt like a thousand hammers were tapping against the inside of my skull. Someone was shaking my shoulders.

"Alianor? Alianor?" Juliana exclaimed. She was the one shaking my shoulders. I looked up and into her eyes, which were wide with fear. I opened my mouth to speak but then my vision filled with white light, blinding me.

A voice filled my mind. It was beautiful and piercing, making my mind ache. It seemed to sing even as it spoke. _Human. Do you seek me? _

Do I have to answer back? I wondered. Tentatively, I thought, _Who are you?_

_The Stag_

My heartbeat quickened. Forgetting my pain I quickly thought back, _Yes, we all are looking for you. We want to speak to you. _

_Do you follow these men? The ones who wear shining metal? _

_No. My friend and I seek you for ourselves. not for them. _

_Do you trust them? _The Stag asked. Its voice was cold almost, removed. As if it did not really care one way or another.

_I promise you, they will not hurt you. _There was a pause.

_Come to the lake at midnight. Walk into the water. Come only with an honest mind and heart. You may find what you are looking for. Bring the silver men. _

In an instant, the voice was gone. I gasped with relief as the pain faded. Slowly I blinked my eyes open. I was kneeling on the ground, the knights and Juliana around me. I raised my eyes and looked into Juliana's face.

"Are you alright?" She asked. I nodded slowly.

"Fine," I replied, "The Stag just spoke to me, in my mind." Her eyes widened in surprise.

"What did it sound like?" Merlin exclaimed.

"I think it is a she," I answered, "And she sounded... distant. Not like any animal or human I have ever heard. Like she was unconcerned with us."

"What did she say?" Arthur asked this question. His blue eyes were bright with emotion, his cheeks flushed. He was excited.

"She said," I took a deep breath and continued, "to meet her at midnight on the lake. We are supposed to walk into the water." Arthur grinned widely,

"So we are going to meet her then?" I nodded in reply. He beamed at me and for a moment I thought he might hug me or something. Then he used his princely voice as he commanded, "Get some rest everyone. We will go to the lake at midnight."

The knights and Merlin offered to hunt if Juliana and I would set up camp. We agreed and made a fire and got out the bedrolls. Flopping down into ours, we stared up at the sky. Darkness was gathering. The night sky was a velvety blue as it faded into blackness. Silence hung in the air. Not even the cicadas and crickets were singing in this night.

"So," Juliana spoke, "Do you think they will ever realize that they do not know my name?" I chuckled.

"I am sure that they have realized. Maybe they just do not want to ask you?" I rolled over onto my stomach and looked at her, "You mean Lancelot has not asked you?" She turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I am not going to tell him. I agreed to wait till you were ready."

I giggled and buried my face into my bedroll, wanting to fall asleep. "That was not what I meant Juliana, but alright." We lay in silence for several more moments.

"So what else did the Stag say?" Juliana asked.

"Nothing in particular. Asked if we followed the knights and if we trusted them. I told her that they would not harm her. Oh, and she told us to come with an honest mind and heart, whatever that means."

"So, is there anything that we need to ask her?" I shrugged.

"The way the legend goes," I replied, "She will tell each of us something we need to know. Some truth that is vital to our lives. I just want to know where our lives are supposed to go from here. Why were we given our powers and for what purpose?"

"Do you think the White Stage will know all that?"

"She's one of the purest magical beings in existence," I replied. "She can see to the truth in anyone's heart. She will tell us something important."

Juliana sighed and yawned. Rolling over onto her side she muttered, "Wake me when it is midnight." I smiled.

The knights returned with game. We ate quietly. Maybe we all were thinking about what would happen tonight. Maybe we were wondering if we had honest hearts. Or maybe we were all just really hungry. I could have read everyone's mind there and found out. But somehow, at least for tonight, I thought everyone's thoughts should be their own.

I finished and noted that Arthur had finished as well, and was staring intently into the fire, face lost in thought. Then a voice drew my attention away from him,

"Do you think he wants some food?" It was Lancelot. I turned and looked at him in confusion. Then he nodded in Juliana's direction and I realized what he meant. I shrugged,

"If you can wake him up, then go ahead." Lancelot nodded and moved over in Juliana's direction. I smirked to myself. Juliana did not like being woken up. Most likely she would glare at him and go back to sleep.

Turning my attention back to Arthur I made a decision. Getting up I strode over to him and grabbed his arm, hard.

"Let's go for a walk," I told him. Before he could reply I dragged him up off his feet. I moved off away from camp, ignoring his stammered protestations. Once I could no longer hear the voices of the knights I whirled back around.

"Where did you learn how to use mental barriers?" He stumbled to a stop and met my gaze head on,

"My father taught me." His voice darkened, "He taught me so I could keep magical people like yourself from looking into my thoughts! You had no right to read my mind!"

"I do have a right!" My voice rose to match us, "Especially when you are placing me and my friend in danger! Especially when you have something to hide!" His blue eyes stared into mine. There was some kind of battle going on beneath their surface. Finally he looked away.

"I have nothing to hide from you." He said slowly. I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh really?" I spat back, "What about you wondering 'what will happen once we get there.'"

"An innocent thought," he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I do not have to read your mind to know you are keeping something back."

"Well good, because I am keeping these barriers up until I get away from you and your magic." I scowled, and turned away, prepared to stomp back to camp. Then I paused.

"I told the Stag you were not going to hurt her. I swore to her. I may be a... magical person... but I still take seriously the things that normal people take seriously. Like trust." I did not want to turn back around and see the look on his face.

"You are a girl, aren't you?" His voice was so quiet I was not even sure if I had heard it. "Hows that for trust."


	15. Chapter 15 The Stag at Last

(Just a short chapter, but I did not want to leave you with that cliff hanger. Longer chapter coming! Read and review, please)

I did not turn around. I did not deny it or even respond. I just walked away so he would not see the tears that were suddenly running down my face. I got a few steps away and then ran as fast as I could, plunging into the darkness. Branches whipped my face and tore at my hair. The ground rushed away beneath my feet and I felt like I was flying.

Finally I stopped, my chest heaving, blood running from my scratches. I put a hand to my cheek and it came away wet and bloody. My scowl darkened. I hated crying, and I hated crying when I did not have a good reason to cry. It made me feel like a fool. Leaning down I splashed some water on my face. Suddenly I froze, looking down at the water in my hands. Could it be? I looked up and saw a wide body of water before me, shimmering in the moonlight. It was the lake. Somehow I had ended up running to the lake. Sighing, I leaned back over and scrubbed my face with water until all the blood and tears were gone. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my tunic. I heard a rustle of noise from behind me and turned. The knights emerged, along with Merlin and Juliana. All of them looked very surprised to see me.

"You are here!" Juliana exclaimed. I nodded slowly,

"Yeah, I went running and kind of just ended up here."

"You went running?" Juliana asked skeptically.

"Yes." I asked curtly, avoiding looking at Arthur. Juliana shrugged, her hazel eyes flashing between Arthur and I. Turning towards the lake I gazed up at the moon, which was high in the night sky. It was not a full moon, but close to it, approaching the full circle. I turned my attention towards the lake.

"So..." Gawain began, "We are supposed to walk into the water?" I glanced at him. He looked nervous, probably was not accustomed to magic and the supernatural. I nodded,

"I supposed so," I replied. I turned to face everyone. I might as well attempt to tell the knights what I thought was going to happen. "The Stag will probably speak to me, my friend, and Merlin first as we have magic. I do not know what she will say, or if she will want to speak with the rest of you. If she talks to you, speak honestly. She can see all dishonesty and lies. If she tells you something, remember it. It will probably be important."

I looked over at Juliana, giving her a questioning look in case she wanted to add something. "Do not be afraid," Juliana told them, "The White Stag will not harm you." She turned back to face the lake and muttered under her breath to me, "I think." I grinned back at her. Then together we stepped into the water.

"I do not like lakes." Juliana said this as the water brushed our ankles. We took another step and it climbed up our calves. I shivered, the lake was cold and the water was weighing down my clothes.

"Remind me why you do not like lakes?"

"I hate not being able to see what is under my feet." Juliana replied. I laughed softly. I heard a rustle of cloth from behind me. Turning around, I saw that Arthur, Merlin and his knights were removing their armor, shirts, and boots. Mercifully, they were leaving their pants on.

_Boys_. I spoke in Juliana's mind. _Always have to use any chance to take their shirts off. _ Juliana turned around to look at them and then turning back, grinned at me, her eyes laughing. By the loud sounds of splashing behind us, the boys had got in the water. I laughed to myself as they started shivering from the cold.

I kept walking forward, the water going up my legs. Taking a deep breath I plunged down into the lake. Instantly every part of me was soaked though. Opening my eyes underwater, I could see nothing, only darkness. I came up to the surface, to be greeted by Juliana's glare.

"You splashed me."

"You should go under," I told her teasingly, "the water is nice." She shook her head and glared down at the water. By now everyone was in up to their waists. Suddenly I found my eyes drawn to Arthur, the way the moonlight shone against the skin of his chest. Shuddering slightly, I tore my eyes away, glad that no one could read my mind.

"What now?" Merlin asked, shivering.

"I have no idea," I answered, glancing at Juliana, who shrugged.

"Look at that!" Tristan shouted, pointing at something behind me. I whirled around to see nothing. That was when a white flash blinded my vision. The lake, the forest, everything was swallowed up by total absence of color, of anything. Then as quickly as it came the flash faded away and the colors of the forest, and the lake returned. I blinked, and everything was as it should be. I blinked again, and when I opened my eyes the White Stag was standing before me.


End file.
